The important thing to remember is that you can tell a lot about a Tanshin from the way he looks.

The first thing anyone sees is blonde hair. It's bright yellow, like sunshine, but in the land of Mist, that's a rare sight indeed, especially on top of a man's head. There aren't many with hair like that anymore, and though Tako seems to believe he was immaculately conceived, it's very likely that his mother just had a fun night with a foreigner from Sand or someplace where those blonde locks and naturally tan skin run rampant. Next comes bold black glasses that square his sharp jawline, surrounding vibrant green, serpentine eyes. And then people notice that their neck is straining to look down at him. Yes, he's a little short, but a quick scowl from his thick eyebrows will help you forget the comment you were about to make.

After second guessing commenting on his height, they tend to see that his spunk lends itself to a fairly simple aesthetic. He wears a solid orange tee shirt underneath a traditional navy blue haori, with two decorative stripes of off-white along the neck and sleeves. A rather eccentric touch comes from a large patch sewn onto the back of the jacket, which is a comical hammerhead shark using it's head to smack down a nail. A silly touch, to be sure, but it is one of those things that makes Tako's appearance his own. Instead of the traditional hakama pants, he wears simple black trousers, and one can see a small pouch on his waist. What one may not be able to spot are his two knives, the classic Tanshin pair made specifically for his hands. They are hidden, tucked against his torso beneath his haori, ready to be summoned at a moment's notice. A pair of reasons to ignore his height.

Personality:
Enter, Debauchery.

Tako is no goodie-two-knives, let me tell you. He's a wild soul, the kind of wild that you just can't train out of someone. Being a Tanshin, he was given large places of leeway where he could express himself, so long as his job, his assignment was never compromised. In the current context, that means that, while he can slit throats and kidnap criminals like the rest of them, the Ripple Shark of Mist is a gambler, a drinker, and by and large an indulger in the many vices of the world. There are few things Tako won't try for the sake of a good time.

The kid's got a one-track mind. Seriously, his brain is just a set of railroad tracks, and he can only travel on one set at a time. Just try talking to him while he's listening to jazz. Better yet, knock on his door when he's fiddling with those mechanisms of his, or tell him something when he's fixing up that boat of his, which is all the time. The kid's obsessive. It isn't debilitating or anything like that. He just doesn't have a clue how to split his attention. It's probably why he's such a damn good Naval tracker.

Quote:

You’ll never meet more honest people when they’re not working, but watch out when they are, because they’d sell you and your family if it meant getting the job done.

Tako is best known for being brutally honest. Or perhaps, he is best known for simply being brutal. Whether it is owed to the debts from gambling or the morning after a night of drinking, the short man has a temper. With such an impeccable capacity to focus, Tako sees all of the little things, sees the problems, knows the solutions, and bears no malcontent towards reaching those solutions. He's a bully to most, and short-tempered to the rest of them. But his motivations are in the right place, it seems. One, at least, can hope.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Ripple SharkTanshin Clan Specialist + Virtuouso
When in the presence of mist, steam, or another potentially obscuring condition, even heavy rain, the Ripple Shark may mold chakra around himself to make his image blend into the atmosphere for one post. While not invisible, the Ripple Shark's exact location becomes harder to discern, causing many to misjudge his location by about 1 meter. The Ripple Shark may use this ability twice per thread, and a 3 post cooldown is required before the Ripple Shark may activate this ability again.

The Ripple Shark is the sneaky bastard who doesn't mind hiding in plain sight. As a Tanshin orphan, he has been trained to go by unnoticed. He's known as the man you can never find when you want to find him, but always there when you least hope. The Ripple Shark is a master of the damp and hazy environments. This has been rumored to be a title for members of the Tanshin in the past who are experts at manipulating the battlefield with Kirigakure no Jutsu.

When you ask for an exclusive look at the operations of Mist's Navy, the last thing you expect to hear from Takarabe Juzo, Commodore of the Sea Lance, is that you should go visit a different boat. And what a tiny little boat it was, too. The Gallant Steam is anything but a cozy vessel made to look younger than it is with the help of a few new polished parts. But even before I could snoop around the docks and get a full view of The Gallant, one Sazanami Tako stopped me with the exact kind of blunt greeting you expect to hear from a sailor.

'The hell you want?

Though I may not be a sailor, I learned from my meeting with Commodore Takarabe Juzo that sailors like having their masts strung high, if you know what I mean. It made sense, after the way Commodore Takarabe had talked, that I should try to compliment the clunky boat on the docks that day. Though the boat was small, and even some of the parts weren't quite matching, I could tell that The Gallant Steam was more than just a little patrol or miniature tug boat. The serious looking man with the glasses had said that much without even saying his name. Even as I told him how beautiful The Gallant was, I wasn't quite sure what he made of it. This Sazanami Tako seemed to be a hard man to please.

What, this old gal? She's a gift from my uncle. Real nice of him an' all to toss the old lug my way. She's a beauty now. Got her reworkin' a few years back. Used to be a river boat, y'know? But I rigged her up solid, found a new setta chains, wrote summa new seals in her. She'll chuggalong real nice.

The rumored Sazanami Tako, The Ripple Shark. While not many rumors are circulating, and most of them can be heard aboard the Sea Lance, they all speak of a high tide of success. Every sailor I asked about him told me one of a many number of things.

Quote:

"He'll be Commodore of the Sea Lance in ten years."

Quote:

"I heard he spends his nights killing gangsters in Kanitoshi. My buddy said he's actually one of the Mafia family heads. Mist just doesn't know it."

Quote:

"He's a righteous ass, and I'm glad he's been put on boat parole. Last thing I need is his crazy ass yelling at me about how to set a five-ton cannon faster."

All of the quick interviews had painted a jumbled picture, one that dared to be either a Pollack or a Hokusai. I had thought it would be easy to figure fact from fiction, but with one look, it seemed the Ripple Shark would be a hard fish to catch. Commander Takarabe had told me to spend every waking moment of the week with him, but I was already worried I wouldn't even get five minutes. This was, after all, the whispered Surgeonfish, the steadiest hand, the sharpest scalpel of Mist. He was rumored to be ruthless.

Hey! Lady! 'The hell you want, huh?!

It had taken me half an hour just to find the Gallant on the docks, but getting Tako to speak with me had taken even longer. He didn't take nicely to the classic polite questions, the how is your days?, the can I help yous that were supposed to come when someone was working and you weren't. But Sazanami doesn't seem like the type to enjoy assistance. The first real thing he told me about the boat was that he had just fired their last mechanic for being an Insolent Idiot. It seemed Tako didn't trust many on his boat. Indeed, it took me an hour of conversation just to get invited aboard. Longer to get to the questions I really wanted answers to.

They said I was born in June. I dunno what the hell that's supposed to mean, to a kid like me. Tanshin get birthdays, sure, but I could give a damn. No gifts needed for somebody like me, nuh uh! But I think I dialed it in. I was conceived while Water Country celebrated the God of the Sea. And if I'm an orphan, some lady prob'ly got preggo with Umikami's baby. Y'know, immaculately made and whatnot. I'm the Hercules of Mist! Or whatever. Can't say I give two damns about mythology.

If you didn't get it by now, Tako isn't the type of person you prove wrong. Who am I to say, after all, that The Ripple Shark wasn't immaculately conceived by Umikami and some drunk girl at the Festival of Umikami? What caught my attention was not his claim at being a divine hero, but at the oh-so-familiar clan name. The Tanshin. The Warrior Orphans of Mist. I had only heard him known as Sazanami Tako, so to hear he was one of the Tanshin surprised me. I would later speak to other Tanshin, but he told me most of what I would hear.

Why is there no record of me? You ask a Tanshin and they don't know a Tako? That answer's easy. Changed my name on the government record. Yea, my dumb uncle gave me a stupid ass name. Kurobitsuke. How stupid is that?! Tanshin Kurobitsuke. Sounds like a dinner special at a BBQ joint. Can't be havin' that smudge on the Tanshin name. Heck, what kind of a damn name is that?!

But yea, Uncle said I can be Tako on the field, that it won't ruin anything, but... well all my brothers call me Kurobitsuke until I punch 'em in the jugular an' tell 'em to call me Kuro at the very worst. But nah, I just don't go home.

It seemed to be true. When I went to the Tanshin's Island, asking about Kurobitsuke, most of them spoke of him distantly, though their own form of love was likely there. The few that knew him by Tako all said that he was doing a good job serving his country and family, even if he stayed on his boat most of the time. Who I was really looking for was the man that Tako spoke so often of in his talks about his family. That rumored "Uncle".

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tanshin Files; The Homecoming

While riding in their boats, it is customary to stand—not sit—and remain completely silent without moving for the duration of the trip.

Jeez, that dude was so weird. Here I am, a little flounder, just walkin' on his boat, all comfort'ble and the like with this blanket he gave me. And he just stands on this dingy little boat, lookin' at nuttin' but the sea, not sayin' a word. I was try'na get him to tell me somethin', anythin' really, but the dude just said nothin'. Didn't even row the boat! It just moved itself.

That was the real sick part, though. I hadn't been on too many boats by then, y'know. Maybe a ferry once, but they all get operated somehow. Even this old gal, Gallant, she's gotta get worked by these hands. But it was cool, the way that thing moved. But the man? Sure, I call him my uncle, but the dude's weird.

Searching the Tanshin clan grounds (as much as one can search a respected clan's home), I learned of Tako's Uncle, but the man seemed very tight-lipped, the sort that didn't consort often with those outside of the clan. And it made sense, in a way. He was a part of the family that had originated and run the orphanage. He was one of the masters of the clan's trap-making techniques. A look into shinobi records told me that he was as experienced as most Jounin in the village but had taken leave to tend to the orphanage and raise an amazing generation of Tanshin.

It makes sense, then, that Sazanami Tako would become the man he has.

Hahaha! Oh yea, that kid was so dumb. I don't even gotta apologize for that. Can't remember what his name was, but he had these huge dumb glasses, and was all-- Tako makes a face reminiscent of a gorilla with a bad case of underbite. So dumb. He was the easiest promotion I ever got, no lie.

With the way Tako seemed to work while he told me the story of his promotion, it was clear that this boy, while doing what he could to avoid direct connection to his clansmen, was a Tanshin to the core. He told the story of his battle royale in the academy with his head down, but his energy was intense, no matter how nonchalant he may be.

What? How'd I do it? How does anyone get promoted any more?! I caught that four-eyed nerd in a quick snare and cut his pinky off. Tako adjusts his own pair of glasses higher up on his nose. Had to cut the other one off to get him to shut up and surrender. He was real whiny for such a big ol' nobody.

Since the story, I have taken the time to hunt down the man whose chance at being a shinobi was literally cut off by Tako. He was a nice fact check for Tako's big talk. He didn't even remember the Ripple Shark by his current name, but rather, as Tanshin Kurobitsuke. He was a bit darker back then.

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Man With Eight Fingers

"I don't want to talk about it."

. . .

"No, really. I hate that kid. That man. He was a kid when I knew him, and he had been incredibly popular in the academy. He was loud, and I always thought he was a bully, but everyone else loved his energy. They laughed at his jokes. And in the end, I was the brunt of them."

. . .

"No, I wasn't popular. I mean-"

. . .

"What happened was, I was facing him in our final examination, the ultimate moment where your future is decided, and he tackled me to the ground, with this really evil look. I still remember it. I thought his eyes was red for a moment, but it must have been the color of my head hittin' the ground.

"And he just stuffed his knee in my mouth. He was looking down on me, and I just thought, 'God, he's going to crush my skull. Goodbye, sweet world.' But he didn't. He just grabbed my hand, took one of those creepy hooked daggers of his, and just sawed through the bone. And then I blacked out.

When I came to, his knee was out of my mouth, but he had replaced it with his fist, and was using his knee and other hand to saw my other pinky off. I think the pain was what brought me back to consciousness. And then he asked me with that damn creepy smile of his with his skeezy blonde hair and said 'You wanna say Uncle?'

"When he dug into the bone, all I can remember was the sound of my own voice yelling uncle through the mist. Couldn't even be a sailor. Can't tie all the knots with eight fingers. Now I just grow tea, out here on Kenjitou. Speakin' of, you wanna buy a bag?"

. . .

"You suck, lady. Y'know that?"

That was ten years ago. It seems that, while Tako is still that gregarious and enjoyable boy that Eight Fingers spoke of, he seems to have a slight touch of seriousness that seeps out from his work. Certainly he has that flair of enjoying his time off as all Tanshin do, but The Ripple Shark's idea of fun now seems to be split evenly between enjoying his time at casinos and bars and working on his boat.

He didn't have much of an art to his story-telling, it was very forward and direct, but his time speaking about his career in the Navy took up much of our first day together. Most of it was lost on me. I am no expert in Naval jargon. Still, it seemed to highlight that, no matter the boy's age, he had a very spiritual and innate understanding of sailing, what it means to be on the sea, and what kind of life that is to lead.

It made sense that a man so young as himself would have been promoted to chuunin due to his hard work on The Sea Lance. It reminded me of what Commander Juzo said.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Takarabe Juzo

"There aren't many men I really want to trust with a five-ton cannon, if you know what I mean. But Sazanami Tako was and is one of the few. But if you can trust him to fire your cannons, you can trust him with bigger, better tasks. That's what I did."

Between Commodore Takarabe and Tako, I learned about the trajectory of his career. The Gallant Steam was once a ship belonging to that "Uncle", and two years into Tako's promotion to chuunin, The Ripple Shark received the boat as a gift, a reward for his great service on the Sea Lance.

'What kind of great service might that be?' One would ask. I decided on going to meet Commander Takarabe again before returning to The Gallant on the second day. I was lucky to have grabbed him for a brief ten minutes. Here is some of our conversation;

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Great Service of Sazanami Tako

"You ask any sailor here, you don't have to ask me. Tako is a star kid. Sure, he's still too young to be as good as some of the veterans here, but when someone understands the sea like he does, you have to let him do what he wants."

"And what was that?"

"Tako likes to know the inner working of things. Sometimes he focuses so much on objects that he forgets about people. That is why I sent him to Kanitoshi. Pirates have been a problem on the seas for as long as ships have been sailing. Those problems manifested, back then, in a number of drug piracy games on Kanitoshi. He didn't like the idea. Tako likes the comfort of his environments. But I forced him to do it. I told him he had to, if he wanted to stay working under me on the Sea Lance. Which I knew he did. He likes how I run my ship, and I like how he runs his now. A swift, iron fist."

"Okay, but more about Kanitoshi."

"Patience, Izumi-san. Kanitoshi had many drug rings. Tako infiltrated their deepest rings by using his unusual appearance to play the foreigner card. Who wasn't going to believe that a blond-haired kid with green eyes wasn't from Bird Country, or something like that? I forget the whole M.O. of the assignment, but he spent a year on that assignment. Some say he got caught up in the drugs, the booze, the gambling, that he lost himself, but I see him as the same man, with the same passion, just a little more of that temper has been tapped.

"It was the proper proof that Tako had earned the promotion I gave him aboard my ship. He hated every minute of it, until he started to love it. He's been artfully informing me of the movements of certain pirates for the past five years, he still keeps his contacts, and if I'm not mistaken, no one knows that The Ripple Shark and the Surgeonfish Gambler of Kanitoshi are the same people. I understand that you're trying to write an article about this, but let me get this straight. If you ruin his cover with this thing, you'll be learning just how fast Tako can set that five-ton cannon."

"Oh, don't worry. I understand discretion in your field of work. This is just a study of a successful sailor. But you'll have to tell me more about his success if you don't want me writing about-"

"Yes, you're right. He came back from Kanitoshi, unchanged in my eyes. I had him working with my Head Navigators, helping us find the large pirate presence here in Water Country. He caught on quickly. He sees maps how most navigators do, as a planar expression of the sea. He knows the different factors that affect travels, can account for wind speed, the speed my crew can raise the masts at, and how a pirate responds to the speed and swift lethal capacity of the Sea Lance."

"So he was a Navigator for you. How do you become renowned for navigation?"

"I won't begin to tell you how important navigation is on the water. You can go read a book for that. I will say that Tako proved himself. And his family recognized that. They gave him that dump of a ship, and Tako turned it into The Gallant at my behest. He was a great Navigator, yes, but he was bored. He needed excitement, which is why he gambled like he did when he worked with me on the Sea Lance.

"I gave him a grant, told him to fix up that loser of a boat, and he came back to me with The Gallant Steam. It took a year for it to be up to the challenges I needed for a boat of that size, but he did it. If there's one thing Tako isn't, it's insubordinate. He follows orders like a loyal dog.

"Just what a Commander wants."

"Exactly. And more. But I started using the Gallant about... oh, three years ago. It's a sort of seaborne undercover unit. It's not a threatening boat. You can't even call it a ship. It's sort of a decoy, the boat that just asks pirates to target it, and then in a puff of steam, Tako, and Gushiken Ren, wreak havoc on those sea criminals."

"Hmm... And Akane Tano is one of those sea criminals?"

"No."

"Pardon?"

"No. Akane Tano was not a sea criminal. He was a serial killing shinobi mercenary of Barnacle Country. Have you never heard of The Barnacle Reaper?"

"Akane Tano is that man?!"

"Yes. The man responsible for the vicious murder of many Mist shinobi during the Seagull Conflict. He sought out weaker teams with a vengeance. Mist, being distracted as we were by trying to fight the fair fight, failed to notice Akane Tano as a real threat."

"But The Ripple Shark did?"

"Haha, do you really call him that? He'll like that. He's been trying to get that name to catch on for years now. But yes. I was using the Gallant for investigative operations during the Seagull Conflict, to see where Mist would face the greatest problems. Tako caught wind of genin and chuunin squads being found, slaughtered, with red circles on their skin, where Akane Tano used his forbidden barnacle techniques. I told him to keep an eye out, to not lose focus on the job, and he took the job into after hours."

"He went vigilante?!"

"Let's not confuse things. I told him he could keep an eye out, that he had a job to do, and while he did his job, he found time for hunting Akane Tano. I can't say that kid has ever been good at getting a full night's sleep. He pores over things. While I didn't really want to deal with The Barnacle Reaper, it wasn't my jurisdiction, I can't say I was upset when Tako brought him in, scratched up to the point where my head of Medical had to patch him up a little before we made it back to Kirigakure. If there's any kid I'd be weary of meeting blades with, it'd be Tako."

"You're talking about his rumored knives, right? Risky Torrents? They say you go wild when you see them."

"You really have done your research, I see. Yes. While I could beat the crap out of Sazanami, I'd be afraid of getting cut by those knives of his. They're rumored to make his opponents sloppier. Reckless. Makes them do things they wouldn't normally, which opens up a lot of doors for a dangerous boy like Sazanami. He's sneaky enough of a bastard as it is."

"That's why they call him the Ripple Shark."

"Or The Surgeonfish."

"Or Kurobitsuke."

"What?! What the hell kind of name is that? Kurobitsuke? Sounds like something you'd order at a barbeque joint.... Speakin' of, I'm hungry. We done?"

"Absolutely. Thanks, Commodore."

"Call me Captain."

After my conversation with Captain Takarabe, I found myself sitting in the engine room of the Gallant Steam with the Ripple Shark.

I guess my mind had begun to drift with all of the information I had found, as he told me of his gambling and drinking escapades on Kanitoshi. I had heard from some of his sailor friends that he had been spending the good part of the last two and a half years gambling, drinking and having a good time, but I really hadn't expected him to have quite so many stories. He had started me polishing some box that kept emitting hot steam, and next I was polishing the various knobs and switches that were attached to it. I can't say I really know what I did wrong, but before I knew it, Tako had ripped the towel from my hand. I still managed to get it on tape, even as he pushed me up the stairs and onto the deck.

So this chick, right? Massive bazungas. The tape buzzes forward And there I was, mindin' my own, bettin' on the wheel, when some guy just comes up to me, shoves me, and asks me if I was tryin' to whore out his-- More buzzing. He thought he would do a quick jab, but he missed by like feet! Yet more buzzing.--and spat on his dumb face, really let it fall down on his eyeball--

The buzzing continues, for what seems like a solid minute.

--you doing, you maggot-infested guinea pig?! Who told you ta touch that switch. No-buddy! Don't be a dimwit! The wrong amount of chakra, and I'll be workin' my ass off gettin' the Gallant back on the water fer a month. No. No! Get yer feces-covered hands outta here. Get off mah boat. Tell Cap'n Juzo to give you an exclusive look into my ass. Don't go pokin' around here while I'm talkin' to you. This's just show and tell, you crazy witch. Go on, get off my boat. Yep, up the deck. Oh, you don' think you can swim back from here? Here's a life vest. Go on, pull on the strings, blow it up. It'll show ya just how important ev'ry little part of a ship is so you don' go around and try'n screw anythin' up. Nobody wants to swim back from here. But you better.

Looking back, I can't say I am surprised with the send off I received. I had hoped, somewhere, that I might have earned his love after the day and a half of conversation. But as he shoved me up the stairs, I was dumbstruck. In the end, I kept my recorder safe, had a bag for it, but my roll of film got wet, so the pictures I took of the Gallant turned out murky at best. I'm still not sure what it was that I did, but I assure you I don't plan on going back to find out. If there's one thing I have learned about The Ripple Shark, it's that he's a self-righteous asshole, with the sort of attitude that you expect from a two-bit mast-reeler. Had I been allowed to stay longer, I might have found out just what was so great about this Surgeonfish on my own. Better luck next time.

On second thought, maybe I shouldn't print this thing. Who the hell would read it.

The Surgeonfish Gambler sets out on the Gallant Steam for a night of gambling and good times. The Silverfin Carp - Meddling, good for nothing brat - stows away and throws a wrench in Tako's gears! The night does not go as planned.